Torpedo-guard for ships.



T. M. AU'STEN.

TORPEDO GUARD FQR SHIPS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 5,1911.

Patented May 7,1918.

THQMAS M. AUSTEN, OF ITHACA, NEW YORK.

'JJORIE'EEDO-GUA'RID- FOB, SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May*7, 1918.

Application filed July 5, 1917. Serial No. 178,722.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS M. AUSTEN, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at Ithaca, in the county ofTompkins, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Torpedo-Guards for Ships; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled. in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is an improvement in ships and has particular reference to a torpedo guard therefor.

An object of the invention is to provide guards adapted to be lowered into the water alongside and propelled at the same speed as that of the ship, whereby to overcome the resistance incident to devices which have no independent propelling means.

Another object of the invention is to provide guards of simple and comparatively inexpensive construction attached to the hull of a ship and adapted to be quickly lowered into the-water in cases of necessity, whereby to obstruct the passage of a torpedo and cause the explosion thereof without consequent damage to said hull.

The inventive idea involved is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions, one of which, for the purpose of illustrating the invention, is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a ship showing one of the guards applied thereto, partly broken away and shown in section,

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the ship and the guards therefor, the same being shown, in dotted lines, in their inoperative positions.

In the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates generally the hull of a ship to each side of which is pivotally connected at 6, a plurality of supporting members or hanger arms 7 the other ends of which are connected at 8 to the upper portion of a guard 9, one of which is arranged on each side of the hull. Each of the guards 9 is preferably made of a plurality of plate sections 10 joined together in such a manner as to assimilate the hull of a vessel, the guard being preferably of a length substantially equal to that of the ship to which it is attached and of a depth equal to that of the draft of said ship. The guard is made very narrow in proportion to its length so as to offer the least amount of resistance to the water and adjacent each end thereof the same has connected thereto at 11 the lower end of a hoisting cable 12 connected at its upper end to a derrick 13 which is employed for the purpose of raising and lowering the guard when desired, the same swinging about the points 6 during this op eration.

In order that the guard will offer the least amount of resistance to the water when the ship is under way it is proposed to propel each guard independently and at the same speed as the ship and, to this end, each guard is preferably provided with a propeller 14, at its stern, mounted upon a shaft 15 driven by a vertical shaft 16, which is in turn, actuated by an electric motor 17, inclosed in a casing 18 whereby to form a watertight compartment for the same. Connected to the motor 17 are suitable wires 19 inclosed in a flexible shafting 20 extended upwardly to a point adjacent the deck of the ship where the shafting is passed through an opening 21 in the hull and the wires therein connected to a dynamo conventionally illustrated at 22. This dynamo may be connected to the main dynamo of the vessel and in this manner the operation of the propeller 14L may be controlled to regulate the speed of the guard in accordance with that of the ship. It will thus be seen from this description that guards constructed and driven in accordance with the invention will offer a minimum amount of resistance to the water and will effectively protect the hull of a ship against damage by a torpedo owing to the fact that the same will explode when coming into contact with the guard.

What is claimed is In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with the hull of a ship, supporting members pivotally connected to the sides of said hull, guards connected to said supporting members and each including a plurality of plates assembled to provide downwardly converging sides and a top, means connected to said guards for raising and lowering; the same, a propeller mounted In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in the stern of each guard, an electric motor in the presence of tWo Witnesses. carried by the top of each guard, a Water tight casing for said motor, and means car- THOMAS AUSTEN' ried by the ship and connected to said e1ec Witnesses:

tric motor for controlling the operation CLARENCE D. TARBELL,

thereof. 4 WM. T. BAKER.

fiopieo of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

